New to water-cooling. How many radiators?

[MilesMetal]

I've been looking around on a bunch of forums and each one seems to give differing opinions on how many radiators I might need.

I plan on cooling the a CPU and two high-end GPUs.

I'm not totally sure specifically what CPU/GPUs that I want since that will be determined by how tight my budget is after I've put together my list of water-cooling components. As a rough idea I'd like to get two Maxwell 880 cards and either a Broadwell i5 or next generation i7 Extreme CPU (again, it's dependant on the water-cooling cost). I'm not building until next January or February since I'm currently saving up the money for the PC, that's why I'm probably getting the Maxwell/Broadwell components.

I'm not bothered about a super-quiet system but at the same time I don't want it to be annoyingly loud. A reasonable middle-ground in terms of cost, performance and noise.

PC components list:

CPU: Broadwell i5
GPU: x2 Maxewell 880
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VII Hero (if using an LGA1150 CPU)
Case: Corsair 900D
PSU: Corsair RM850

Water-cooling components list:

Radiators: x2 480mm, x1 240mm, x1 120mm
CPU: Koolance 380i
GPU: EK Water blocks x2
Pump: D5 w/ EK X-Top

I've only listed the stuff I thought would be relevant to the question. If you need any other info just ask

Thanks,
Miles.

 

[Remmy]

Welcome to the forums

While I was reading your post I was thinking that two 360mm x 60mm radiators would have been enough for you to run the fans at 7V, but if you're already planning on two 480mm, a 240mm, and a 120mm, I'm certain you'll be fine. Unless you particularly want one for some reason, I wouldn't bother with the 120mm radiator, they generally don't bring enough benefit to justify increasing the potential for messy tubing.

 

[MilesMetal]

Welcome to the forums

While I was reading your post I was thinking that two 360mm x 60mm radiators would have been enough for you to run the fans at 7V, but if you're already planning on two 480mm, a 240mm, and a 120mm, I'm certain you'll be fine. Unless you particularly want one for some reason, I wouldn't bother with the 120mm radiator, they generally don't bring enough benefit to justify increasing the potential for messy tubing.

Good point about the 120mm, actually. I'll remove it.

I'd rather reduce the cost as much as possible so I have the ability to spend the savings on other areas of the build so I can squeeze the most out of my budget.

Two 360mm radiators seems to be the general consensus for a CPU and dual-GPU cooling setup. Would that setup still be adequate for mild overclocking?

 

[Remmy]

Good point about the 120mm, actually. I'll remove it.

I'd rather reduce the cost as much as possible so I have the ability to spend the savings on other areas of the build so I can squeeze the most out of my budget.

Two 360mm radiators seems to be the general consensus for a CPU and dual-GPU cooling setup. Would that setup still be adequate for mild overclocking?

Since there's no substantial information (that I'm aware of) regarding the next generation of CPU/GPUs, we can only speculate about their heat output. I have an i5 2500K at 4.5GHz and two GTX580s at stock in my loop, and I have a 240mm x 60mm and a 360mm x 60mm radiator. Under load my temperatures are fine with my fans at 7V, so I'd imagine you'd be able to obtain similar results with your proposed setup.

 

[Scoob]

We're certainly seeing a trend with NVidia hardware where newer generations are offering more performance while generating a lot less heat. My 2x GTX570's OC'd would run a similar temp to my much better performing GTX 680's on the same loop.

It's fair to expect the same from 880's but we just don't know yet. NV may decide to push performance making for a HOT card, or do a 680 style "cut down" version of the GPU with the initial 880 making it nice and cool.

Personally, I went for an over kill solution with a single external 1080 rad with a decent pump and VERY low-rpm fans. PC is silent but it offers very good cooling. I always have the option to replace the fans with faster ones, providing better flow AND static pressure if I ever need more cooling performance.

I'd hope, personally, that just the 2x480 rads in your spec would be more than up to the job. Assuming of course the air flow is good.

Scoob.

 

[MilesMetal]

For fans I plan on getting some Corsair SP120 PWM fans. The performance variant.

Would these fans be enough on a medium to high setting with a 240mmx60mm and a 360mmx40-55mm radiator be enough?

I'd like to down-size my case since it's taking a big chunk out of my budget. The 900D to the 750D.

 

[JR23]

I think this is perhaps all a bit too hypothetical to give any really precise advice and when you get the kit in your hands exactly what you do with your loop and radiators may change. I do agree however that a 900D is a bit too much 'potential' unless your looking to go Tri-SLI overkill crazy, then it starts to make sense.

I won't spam your thread with pics of my rig but if you click my sig it will take you to it. It's going to be I would say a little more power hungry than 880's and broadwell will be but i've yet to find out what my temps are like as i'm dragging out the build being a perfectionist. I did with the radiators basically the maximum I could while maintaining the aesthetic I had set in my mind, you could easily put 420's in it instead of 360's with a little careful thought but there aren't any 140mm fans at this time which I like.

If you want to go for the PWM's they give you a fantastic RPM range but 1600 RPM+ is going to get stupid loud and totally defy the point in watercooling in the first place. Plus your going to need to find a suitable PWM fan controller. Air Cooling would be quieter so I would go with quiets. I previously had some PWM's but have changed to standard 3-pin fans. I was originally going to run them at fixed voltage but I couldn't resist picking up an Aquaero so hopefully that will give me a little flexibility and just let the fans idle right down to 6-700RPM when i'm just chilling watching films/TV. Again we shall see but you might like to keep an eye on my log and I will be posting regarding temps and performance when I finally make it!

JR

 

[MilesMetal]

Just had a look at your build project.

I'll definitely be keeping track of it since it's so similar to what I plan on getting.